Not applicable.
Not applicable.
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to solder compositions of the type used with electronic packaging, such as flip chip packaging. More particularly, this invention relates to lead-free solder alloys having reflow temperatures that are compatible with typical circuit board assembly processes and exhibit improved reliability over the commercially-available eutectic 63Sn-37Pb, Sn-3.5Ag and Sn-3.5Ag-1.0Cu solder alloys, particularly under high temperature and high current conditions.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Surface-mount (SM) semiconductor devices such as flip chips and ball grid arrays (BGA""s) are attached to circuit boards with beadlike terminals formed on interconnect pads located on one surface of the device. The terminals are typically in the form of solder bumps near the edges of the chip, and serve to both secure the chip to the circuit board and electrically interconnect the flip chip circuitry to a conductor pattern on the circuit board. Due to the numerous functions typically performed by the microcircuitry of flip chips and BGA""s, a relatively large number of solder bumps are required. The size of a typical flip chip is generally on the order of a few millimeters per side, resulting in the solder bumps being crowded along the edges of the chip.
Because of the narrow spacing required for the solder bumps and their conductors, soldering a flip chip or other SM component to a conductor pattern requires a significant degree of precision. Reflow solder techniques are widely employed for this purpose, and entail precisely depositing a controlled quantity of solder on the pads of the chip using methods such as electrodeposition and printing. Once deposited, heating the solder above its melting or liquidus temperature (for eutectic and noneutectic alloys, respectively) serves to form the solder bumps on the pads. After cooling to solidify the solder bumps, the chip is soldered to the conductor pattern by registering the solder bumps with their respective conductors and then reheating, or reflowing, the solder so as to form solder connections that metallurgically adhere to the conductors. The temperature at which the solder bumps are reflowed to form solder connections is referred to as the reflow temperature, and is conventionally about 20xc2x0 C. to about 50xc2x0 C. above the melting or liquidus temperature of the particular solder alloy.
Flip chip interconnect pads are electrically interconnected with the circuitry on the flip chip through vias. Because aluminum metallization is typically used in the fabrication of integrated circuits, interconnect pads are typically aluminum or aluminum alloy, which are generally unsolderable and susceptible to corrosion if left exposed. Consequently, one or more additional metal layers are often deposited on the pads to promote wetting and metallurgical bonding with solder bump alloys. These additional metal layers, referred to as under bump metallurgy (UBM), may be, for example, sputtered nickel and copper, respectively, or an evaporated multilayer structure of chromium, a diffusion barrier layer of a chromium-copper alloy, and a solderable layer of copper. In each example, copper forms the outer layer of the UBM because it is readily solderable, i.e., can be wetted by and will metallurgically bond with solder alloys of the type used for solder bumps.
FIG. 1 represents a cross-section through a solder bump connection or joint 12 of a flip chip 10 attached to a circuit board 14, such as an organic circuit board known in the industry as FR-4, though the chip 10 could be mounted to a flexible circuit, ceramic or silicon substrate, or another suitable material. The solder joint 12 is bonded to an aluminum runner 16 on the chip 10 and a copper trace 18 on the board 14, thereby electrically and mechanically connecting the chip 10 to the board 14. As shown, a portion of the runner 16 is exposed by an opening in a passivation layer 22 to define an interconnect pad on which a UBM 20 has been deposited. The solder joint 12 has a shape characteristic of a reflowed solder bump alloy, such as the eutectic 63Sn/37Pb solder alloy (melting point of 183xc2x0 C.) and the eutectic Sn-3.5Ag solder alloy (melting point of 221.0xc2x0 C.) widely used for flip chip assemblies. As would be expected, controlling the width of the solder joint 12 is necessary to prevent shorting with adjacent connections. Controlling the height of the solder joint 12 is also necessary to prevent the molten solder from drawing the flip chip 10 excessively close to the circuit board 14 during the reflow operation, when the molten solder bump tends to spread outward as a result of wetting the surfaces it contacts. The ability to control solder bump height and width is determined in part by the reflow characteristics of the solder alloy used, based on its melting point (for a eutectic alloy) or solidus and liquidus temperatures (for non-eutectic alloys), and the peak reflow temperatures required by the particular circuit board assembly.
There is a desire in the electronics industry to limit the use of lead-containing materials due to environmental concerns for the toxicity of lead, as well as reliability concerns due to the alpha particles emitted by lead-containing bump alloys. There are many commercially available Pb-free alloys, most notably Sn-5Ag, eutectic Sn-3.5Ag (melting point of 221xc2x0 C.), and eutectic Sn-0.9Cu (melting point of 227xc2x0 C.), and their derivatives, including Sn-4.0Ag-0.5Cu, Sn-3.9Ag-0.6Cu, Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu, Sn-4Ag-1Cu, Sn-4.7Ag-1.7Cu, Sn-2.5Ag-0.8Cu-0.5Sb, Sn-5Sb, Sn-8.5Sb, Sn-3.4Ag-1Cu-3.3Bi, Sn-3Ag-2Bi, Sn-3.4Ag-4.8Bi, Sn-9Zn, Sn-8.8In-7.6Zn, Sn-58Bi, Sn-3.5Ag-1.5In, Sn-3.2Ag-1Cu-10In, and Sn-2.8Ag-201n. To be compatible with widely-used FR-4 circuit board assembly processes, the maximum reflow temperature of a solder alloy must not be higher than about 270xc2x0 C., and preferably not higher than 260xc2x0 C., in order to avoid damage to the circuit board and its components through board warping, pop-corning, delamination, etc. On the other hand, reflow temperatures below about 240xc2x0 C. may result in poorly formed solder joints as a result of poor wetting, cold solder joint, etc. An additional requirement for automotive applications is the ability to withstand 150xc2x0 C. junction temperatures for an extended period of time (e.g., 2000 hours continuous operation at 150xc2x0 C.). This requirement excludes all Pb-free alloys with solidus temperatures under about 180xc2x0 C., such as Sn-52n, Bi-42Sn and Sn-2.8Ag-20In. In view of these and other demands for solder bump connections, eutectic Snxe2x80x94Agxe2x80x94Cu and near-eutectic Snxe2x80x94Agxe2x80x94Cu alloys have become widely used as a lead-free solder for reflow assembly processes.
The eutectic composition for Snxe2x80x94Agxe2x80x94Cu is not yet clear. Sn-4.7Ag-1.7Cu, Sn-4.0Ag-0.5Cu, Sn-3.9Ag-0.6Cu, Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu and Sn-3.5Ag-1.0Cu have each been treated by various researchers as the eutectic composition for SnAgCu. The Sn-4.7Ag-1.7Cu alloy, the only alloy in this group having a copper content above 1 weight percent, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,628 to Anderson et al. Although described as being a eutectic composition for SnAgCu with a eutectic melting temperature of 217.0xc2x0 C. and a melting range (xe2x80x9cmushyxe2x80x9d zone) of not more than 15xc2x0 C., the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) chart of FIG. 1 from this patent shows this composition to actually have a very wide melting range, from 217.0xc2x0 C. to about 240xc2x0 C., and therefore a plastic range of about 23xc2x0 C. Anderson et al. also teach that, while the relative amounts of tin, silver and copper can be varied (within a disclosed range of 3.5 to 7.7 weight percent silver, 1.0 to 4.0 weight percent copper, balance tin) to provide a melting range above the eutectic melting temperature (217.0xc2x0 C.), such variations are said to result in higher melting temperatures. In any event, the wide plastic range of this alloy requires a reflow temperature much higher than those required for the other SnAgCu alloys that have been considered as eutectics, and can result in cold or disturbed solder joints during the circuit board assembly process, reducing the reliability of the circuit board assembly.
In addition to having acceptable reflow characteristics, another consideration when selecting solder alloys for flip chip applications is the electromigration of the UBM material in the direction of electron flux. There is a tendency for electromigration to occur in solder joints formed of SnAg and SnAgCu alloys, resulting in a resistive or open solder connection. When a thin-film UBM is used, such as a sputtered Alxe2x80x94NiVxe2x80x94Cu metallization or evaporated Crxe2x80x94CrCuxe2x80x94Cuxe2x80x94Au metallization, this mass transport mechanism can become the predominant failure mechanism under severe service conditions.
In view of the above, there is a need to improve the above reliability of lead-free Snxe2x80x94Agxe2x80x94Cu solders while maintaining a peak reflow temperature near that of the eutectic SnAg and eutectic SnAgCu alloys, which is about 240xc2x0 C. to 260xc2x0 C., based on the conventional wisdom that the peak reflow temperature for a solder alloy should be about 20xc2x0 C. to 50xc2x0 C. above its melting or liquidus temperatures.
The present invention is directed to a solder alloy, and more particularly a lead-free solder alloy containing tin, silver and copper as its alloying constituents. The solder alloy consists essentially of, by weight, 3.0% to 3.5% silver, greater than 1% to about 15% copper, the balance tin and incidental impurities, and has an effective melting range of about 215xc2x0 C. to about 222xc2x0 C. (As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cconsisting essentially ofxe2x80x9d to mean the absence of additions that would alter the melting range of the solder alloy.) Solder alloys of this invention are noneutectic, and are therefore characterized by solidus and liquidus temperatures. The alloys have a solidus temperature in a range of about 215xc2x0 C. to about 218xc2x0 C., and may have a liquidus temperature of about 290xc2x0 C. or more. However, a surprising aspect of the invention is the melting mechanism exhibited by the alloy, in that the alloy is substantially all melted and does not exhibit a xe2x80x9cmushy zonexe2x80x9d within a narrow temperature range (215xc2x0 C. to 222xc2x0 C.), hence the term xe2x80x9ceffective melting temperaturexe2x80x9d in which the alloy of this invention behaves similarly to the proposed SnAgCu eutectic alloys (e.g., Sn-3.5Ag-1.0Cu, melting point of 217xc2x0 C.), even though the actual liquidus temperature is well above the effective melting range for the alloy.
According to the invention, the melting mechanism of the alloy is attributable to the presence and dissolution or melting of at least one of two intermetallic compounds (IMC""s), Cu6Sn5 or Cu3Sn, which were determined to exist above the SnAgCu eutectic melting point. However, because of the compositions and very limited amounts of these IMC""s, their dissolution/melting in the alloy is not readily apparent unless the melting behavior of the alloy is very carefully examined. In any event, alloys of this invention containing up to 10 weight percent copper have been shown to reflow at temperatures much lower than their actual liquidus temperatures, to the extent that these compositions can be treated as eutectic compositions with very small amounts of Cu6Sn5 or Cu3Sn IMC particles suspended in the liquid solder during reflow at peak temperatures of about 253xc2x0 C. Depending on the particular copper content of the solder alloy, suitable peak reflow temperatures are in the range of about 230xc2x0 C. to 280xc2x0 C.
In addition to their favorable reflow characteristics, the alloys of this invention have been shown to advantageously increase the effective thickness of a UBM used in flip chip and BGA applications, thereby increasing the time required for the electromigration to progress to the point where a resistive or open solder connection exists. More particularly, the alloys contain a sufficient amount of copper above the eutectic level, such that copper precipitates out as Cu6Sn5 and possibly Cu3Sn intermetallic compounds (IMC""s) along the UBM/solder interface, as well as in the bulk of the solder joint. In this manner, the thickness of the UBM is effectively increased with a copper-rich layer, and the combination of the original UBM metallization and the precipitated IMC""s extend the life of the solder connection under even severe current and temperature conditions. The additional CuSn IMC in the bulk of the solder connection also increases resistance to electromigration through the connection.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be better appreciated from the following detailed description.